Posts Tagged ‘British luxury cars’

The new Rolls-Royce Dawn shares only its door panels with the existing Wraith coupe.

Is this “the sexiest Rolls-Royce ever built”? Apparently, the British maker thinks so, and allowing one pun to slip in, this really may be a new Dawn for Rolls.

The new Rolls-Royce Dawn is aimed at bringing in a new, younger – but still extremely affluent – group of buyers. What they’ll get for their money is perhaps the most lavishly outfitted ragtop to ever hit the road, the top neatly stowing away beneath an electrically operated tonneau cover finished in open-pore wood.

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The $300,000 convertible – make that Drophead in Rolls lingo — shares its platform with the Ghost sedan and Wraith coupe, as well as the 6.6-liter V-12 engine that resides under its bonnet, or hood as we Yanks call it. That twin-turbo package punches out 563-horsepower, more than enough to put some wind in your hair on even the most calm of days.

For those who have the taste – and the budget – for high-performance imports, brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini, or perhaps Aston Martin, are likely to come immediately to mind. But there’s another exotic getting ready to give them a run for the money.

Bentley has been drawing from its history of motorsports to fuel its decade-long revival, and it clearly showed it wasn’t going to get left behind at the stoplight when it launched the latest, 616-horsepower version of its Continental GT Speed.

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From a pony count, the even newer Bentley Mulsanne Speed delivers a mere 530-hp — 25 more than a stock Mulsanne. But it’s the torque number that should put a smile on affluent performance fans, while sending a shiver down the spine at competitive brands. The maker’s flagship model, in Speed trim, will deliver an astounding 811 pound-feet of tire-spinning torque. That’s nearly 300 lb-ft more than the La Ferrari.

Jaguar is kicking off a new advertising campaign for the F-Type across a variety of media.

Jaguar is kicking off a new advertising campaign featuring its new F-Type that includes both television and a heavy dose of social media to help shape perceptions of Jag’s new sports car.

Dubbed “Your Turn,” the campaign supporting the launch of the all-new F-Type, Jaguar’s first new true sports car model in 50 years, which also represents a return to the company’s heartland, a two-seater, convertible sports car, focus on performance, agility and driver connection.

We Keep You Plugged in!

“We have built on Jaguar’s sports car heritage which stretches over 75 years, and in the F-Type we have reignited the flame,” said Adrian Hallmark, global brand director of Jaguar.

Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen (right) hands over the keys to his successor as Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer.

Bentley, the classic British luxury carmaker, wants to add a sport-utility vehicle to its line-up, a move it predicts could yield a 50% increase in demand over its all-time sales record, the maker’s chief executive told TheDetroitBureau.com.

The new model could come as a surprise to those who expect to see Bentley stick with classic luxury designers, like the big Mulsanne and smaller Continental lines, “But I think people will adapt to the shock,” as they have when other brands like Porsche have introduced SUVs to their line-up, said Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer, during a pair of exclusive interviews at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance over the weekend.

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Durheimer should know. In his previous incarnation as the top engineer at Porsche he led the development of the Cayenne, that sport-ute now the top-seller in the German maker’s line-up. When initially told of the project, said Durheimer, Porsche dealers, “warned us it’s dangerous, but five years later we doubled the size of the company.”

Targets for the Bentley SUV aren’t quite as aggressive, but the maker still hopes to boost global sales to 15,000 a year with the new ute, compared with the previous all-time high of about 10,000.

When it comes to launching its all-new flagship sedan, the Mulsanne, Bentley is playing it by the numbers – and those numbers are huge.

The British marque pulled the covers off the replacement for its aged Arnage sedan, last month at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, but it provided little more than a glimpse at the 2010 Bentley Mulsanne, saving the details for a preview at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

And those details, in fitting fashion, are big. The lavishly-equipped saloon car’s massive, 6.75-liter V8 turns out a whopping 505 horsepower and 752 pound-foot of torque, most of that at low RPMs. Power is channeled through a new 8-speed automatic gearbox. Despite bumping up performance, Bentley claims the 2010 Mulsanne will get 15% more mileage out of a gallon of gasoline, and a Flex-Fuel version is in the works for 2011, which will further reduce CO2 emissions.

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The really big numbers, however, come from the car’s infotainment package, the audio system provided by Britain’s exclusive NAIM brand turning out a jaw-dropping – and ear-splitting 2200 watts. Bentley owners won’t have to take a back seat to the kid with the tuner car whose base notes are booming out at a stoplight.

Rolls-Royce aims to take on Bentley's Continental Flying Spur with the new Ghost.

What does it mean when you lose a third of your wealth in a deep economic downturn?

For the average consumer, it could leave you struggling for survival, and certainly not in the position, never mind the mood, for buying a new car. Even the world’s most elite have been hurt by the latest recession, however. If you’ve seen your net worth drop from, say, $3 billion to 2, you’re not likely worrying about the rent money. Even so, the affluent have reined in spending, as well, says Tom Purves, the long-time head of BMW’s North American operations, and now the CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Care.

“Rolls’ customers are insulated but not immune,” Purves said, during a conversation with TheDetroitBureau.com about the sharp slide in global luxury car sales.